


Composure

by Inarticulate



Category: Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Food, My First Fanfic, Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27254092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inarticulate/pseuds/Inarticulate
Summary: (Followup to episode 131; may contain spoilers)After a heavy conversation, Hades and Persephone reflect on their anxieties
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Lore Olympus)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 81





	Composure

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
> 
> This is a direct followup to episode 131; read at your own risk.

Hades watched Persephone take a deep breath. Over the past hour as she told her story, he had seen her lose her composure and regain herself multiple times. The glass in front of her, which had previously cracked from the pressure of the flower roots growing against it, finally gave way and shattered into a pile on the table.

As she had described how the mortals had treated her, red vines had begun to grow in her hair and the sclera of her eyes had deepened to a red the _exact_ color of pomegranate seeds. He remembered her looking like this when that ridiculous reporter had interrupted their tour before she began her internship – except her expression. That time, she had been smiling. Or grimacing? Now her rage was plain to see on her face, contrasting with the rivulets of tears running down to her chin.

The first time Hades saw her angered he had thought it endearing, and frankly it had made him a little aroused. Those same feelings crept up again, but with a new companion: concern. She’s barely recovered from her recent ordeal, which Hecate said could have left her unconscious for years! He hit the stop button on the recording device.

“I think that’s enough for the moment. We’ve been at it for an hour no-“

“No! I can do this!” she cut him off. The vines in her hair twisted and curled as if to add force to her words. He smiled a little ruefully; of course she _can_ do this, she could probably take over all the realms if it was her fancy. And he would help her do it if she asked. But he didn’t want to see her push herself so hard.

“I know you can. But you’ve just had a horrible ordeal, and this conversation is taking a larger toll on you than I expected.” She blinked, her eyes returning to their normal pink and white. “We’ve made a great start. You’re doing amazing, Sweetness. Plus, I don’t know about you,” he chuckled, “but I’m getting pretty hungry.”

Right on cue, her stomach let out a grumble, giving its assent. “Well… As long as you’re hungry, I guess we can take a break.” How clever of him to frame the request around his needs, knowing she would acquiesce. “What’s for dinner then?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I have a few takeout menus, or we can throw something together in the kitchen.”

 _Like before_. The words neither of them spoke hung in the air between them. The memory of that night and the following morning, of domestic bliss, brought a tender smile to Hades’ face.

“Ordering out sounds good, but… Does anyone know I’m here? Besides Eros? _Should_ they know I’m here? Would they be suspicious if you ordered too much?” Ugh, she was right. No takeout.

They walked in companionable silence towards the kitchen, watching each other out of the corners of their eyes when they thought the other wasn’t looking.

Persephone plopped herself on a stool at the island with a huff, realizing that Hades was right. She was exhausted. She couldn’t show him that though, not right now. She had to try to be strong to show she was up for whatever Zeus threw her way.

Hades hummed as he contemplated what to make for the little goddess who was blessing his kitchen with her presence. “Something simple, I think. You up for some spaghetti?” He glanced at her over his shoulder, smiling. She was slumped on the island, resting her head on her folded arms, and nodded at him with a weak smile. He turned around quickly and set to work before she could see his expression turn to worry.

She cringed, knowing he’d seen, and forced herself to sit up straight. She watched how he moved in the kitchen, admiring how confident his movements were as he bent to choose a pot and reached up to retrieve ingredients. She huffed again, knowing that to reach that high she’d either have to climb and stand on the counter or fly. She wanted to speak, to say something to him, but no words were forthcoming.

Hades heard the small _huff_ s behind him as he grabbed the pasta from the cupboard. He wondered about it but thought better of asking. This packaged spaghetti was nowhere near as good as the homemade stuff, but he didn’t have time to make it this time; hopefully she liked it anyways. He set the pot of water to boil but hesitated to turn around. With what he’s forcing her to share, and after her very recent trauma, would she want his attention?

Instead he looked at his hands, palms up over the water. His father’s hands, just like the rest of him, as he’d been so recently reminded by Minthe. Monstrous. Horrific. Would Persephone even want comfort from him? Would she want those hands touching her? He felt himself begin to spiral in anxiety and attempted to ground himself as his therapist said, placing his palms on the cool counters and taking deep breaths. Presently the water began boiling.

Persephone was still watching him as he stared at his hands. As he started trembling, and his breathing accelerated, and then as he forced himself to relax. She wondered what he was reacting to; surely spaghetti wasn’t this stressful? But – oh! The answer was right in front of her. What have they been talking about for the past hour, but her own wrath?

Did he think of her differently now? Now that he knew she was capable of such terrible things? She knew in the corner of her mind that her act of wrath was nothing compared to the actions of several other gods, including Hades’ own brother. Nonetheless, the weight of her fear settled over her like a mantle. She was supposed to be the goddess of spring, of beautiful flowers and boundless fruit, nurturing and caring. She was supposed to live her life in selfless service.

And she had ruined it.

While the pasta cooked, Hades set himself to other tasks, slicing some crusty bread before buttering and seasoning it and placing it in the oven to toast. He pulled a bowl of tomato sauce from the fridge, thanking himself for cooking for the miscreants who broke in looking for Persephone the other day. He smiled to himself thinking of how ardent Artemis had been in the search for her friend. After putting the sauce in the microwave to heat up, he grabbed everything to set the table.

Persephone had slumped back down at the island, staring morosely into space when suddenly a wet coldness poked her leg. She yelped and jumped up, pulled from her stupor, and looked down to see Cerberus, in his “small” and single-headed form wagging his tail at her. Clearly, _he_ didn’t care if she had killed some mortals. She slid from the stool to sit on the floor and cuddled Cerberus until dinner, feeding him gentle words of admiration until dinner was done.

\-----------

They had a quiet dinner in which Persephone didn’t eat nearly as much as she should have. Hades noticed, but didn’t want to pressure her into anything at this point in time. Neither of them spoke, both of them trapped in their mental prisons, fearing what the other might be thinking. Afterwards Hades walked her back to the guest room she was using, encouraging her to sleep well. As she walked away into the room, he held his hand out as if to touch her, then pulled back just before she turned to close the door, giving him a watery smile.

For what felt like hours, Persephone could do nothing but toss and turn, as restless as the _other_ night, when she had come home to that stupid golden car outside Artemis’ house. She finally decided to just get up and take another shower to settle her nerves when the bedroom door cracked open an inch, creating a spotlight on the wall which was dominated by a massive fireplace.

“Hades?” She wasn’t aware she’d even said it. The door opened further, and not one but _four_ dogs nosed their way into the room and, seeing her awake and upright, leapt onto the bed. Laughing, she gave everyone their fair share of head pats and belly rubs, silently thanking them for lightening her mood. As she was finally relaxing into the puddle of blankets and dogs, Mushroom perked up, looking out into the hallway. In a flash he skittered out and the rest of the small pack followed him.

In their sudden absence her black mood descended again, almost worse than before. Fighting the urge to cry, she waited several minutes before getting up to follow them. In the hallway there was no sign of them, but she could see up the hallway that the door to Hades’ room was wide open. Gulping down her nervousness, she went and peeked around the corner and inside… Empty. Drats.

 _I wonder where they all are?_ She padded quietly through the house. Pool room? Nope. Study? Nope. Library? Nope. Other guest room? Bathrooms? Garage? All empty. She began to wonder if she was asleep after all; it felt weird to be in his house by herself, without even the dogs. Where were they? Her belly rumbled again, reminding her that she skimped out on dinner. She made her way to the kitchen, which was also empty.

After some exploring she found a sharp cheese, a knife to cut it, and buttery crackers, plus some tea. Wait, tea? _I thought Hades only drank coffee? Weird. Not complaining._ She brought her finds out to the living space and made a nest on the sofa with some of the blankets and pillows floating around, settling in to enjoy her snack.

Halfway through her plate the front door opened behind her and there was a loud scrabbling of tappy nails, and all eight dogs exploded into the room around her, tails wagging and nosing for pets and cheese. Behind her, “Quiet, you mongrels! Do you want to wake her? Okay, fine, you’re not mongrels but you might as well be. Now _hush_.”

Persephone looked over her shoulder and saw Hades at the same time that he saw her. She wondered why he looked so blurry – until she realized she was looking through tears. _How long have I been crying?_ He rushed over and kneeled in front of her, taking the dangerously tilted dish from her hands and setting it on a table away from wet, curious noses.

“Kore? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” He looks so sincere, she thought. Does he still care? _I thought he would never look at me that way again. I thought –_ she forced herself to stop that train of thought.

She sniffed and rubbed a sleeve roughly across her eyes. “Honestly, no. I couldn’t sleep. I got up and you were gone, and the dogs were gone…” Hades face fell. Once again, he'd carelessly hurt her. She reached out, her fingertips an inch from his cheek. “Can you stay and sleep with me again? You don’t have to. I understand if you don’t want to b-be with me after f-finding out what I d-did,” she stammered it out, as sobs shook her body.

Hades pushed his head forward, leaning his cheek into her hand. “Sweetness, the only thing that would ever keep me from you would be you asking me to stay away. Of course, yes.” He scooped her up and she tucked her face into his chest, still sniffling. She felt lulled by the rocking motion of his steps, and occasionally a very gentle pressure on the top of her head.

By the time he was tucking her in – _this isn’t the guest bed, the sheets are at least twice as soft and they smell positively_ divine _, where are we?_ – she was already half asleep. “Kore, if you need me to go away please let me know. I understand cuddling with Cronos son might not be the most appeali-“

Her eyes shot open, “Wait, you think I wouldn’t want to be here because you’re Cronos’ son?” She sat up and reached out to touch his face again.

“Well, yeah. I’m sure you heard what happened the other day, when… When…” He closed his eyes, unable to finish his sentence.

Her eyes narrowed. “When _she_ hurled your heritage in your face? I sort of heard. Is that what she said? Or implied? That because you’re Cronos son you don’t deserve companionship? Well that’s stupid. Nobody talks like that about your brothers!”

He felt tears fall from his still closed eyes, hitting her hands. “It’s not just that. It’s that I l-look like him, and I st-stink of death.“

“I’ll kill her.”

Her tone was immediately different from before. All uncertainty had evaporated from her tone. He finally opened his eyes and looked at her. The sight made his knees weak. The vines were back, as well as her anger. “I will destroy her for making you feel terrible about the things I love in you.” And then, as quickly as she’d changed, she crumpled onto her side, anger forgotten in her exhaustion.

Hades couldn’t tell how he felt. Elated at _the things I love in you_. Amazement at her defense of him. A sudden lust for the little goddess in his bed. But mostly he was upset at himself for upsetting her to this degree. He was supposed to be helping her recover and preparing her for the trials ahead. Still, he was buoyed by the feelings bubbling in his chest.

He climbed into the bed and curled around her, making soothing noises and running his hands through her hair. She pushed into his embrace and tucked her face into his shoulder. “I didn’t know you still felt so strongly about me. I thought, when you went missing, it might have been in response to something I did.”

She pulled back a bit to look at him. “You’re ridiculous.” She sighed. “You really think I would be here in your house, or here in – I think this is your bed?” She paused and he nodded, answering the question. “If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t be.”

As gently as one of her butterflies she placed a kiss on his lips. Then another. Then she sighed and returned her head to his shoulder, and after a time her breathing settled into the deeper pattern of sleep.

Hades lied awake longer, thinking. What he wouldn’t give to stay here, like this, with her in his bed because she wants to be here. Forever. He took a deep breath, settling his resolve. Whatever bullshit Zeus is preparing, he’ll handle it. _They’ll_ handle it. Together. But that can wait for tomorrow; for now, he’s just going to enjoy the feeling of his beautiful goddess in his arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my very first fic; I hope you liked it! I welcome all critiques :)


End file.
